Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Recap: What Is Section 8(e)? TSCA Section 8(e) is a single short paragraph that has been the source of widespread confusion since TSCA became law in 1976. Section 8(e) simply states that U.S. chemical manufacturers (including importers), processors, and distributors must notify the EPA within 30 days of obtaining information that reasonably supports the conclusion […]
Recap: What are Nanoscale Materials? Nanomaterials are chemical substances that have structures with dimensions at the nanoscale—approximately 1 to 100 nanometers. To get an idea of their size, a human hair is approximately 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide. These materials are currently used in hundreds of consumer products, including electronics, cosmetics, clothing, food, and medicines. […]
Note: This article is directed toward businesses looking to build or expand possibly on remediated brownfields, not those that are interested in purchasing a site and cleaning it up themselves. EPA Grants The EPA recently announced its latest round of brownfields grants. Grants investments totaling $54.3 million went to 243 projects in 147 communities nationwide. […]
CARE About Your Community EPA’s CARE (Community Action for a Renewed Environment) program encourages community leaders to be in the forefront of learning about and reducing environmental risks and impacts. While CARE used to provide grants to communities, at this point it does not because of a lack of congressional funding. However, the Agency is […]
The Washington, D.C., area has been struggling with CSOs for years. Under a 2005 Clean Water Act Consent Decree, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) was required to implement its Long Term Control Plan (LTCP), which primarily consisted of the construction of a system of pumps and three underground storage tunnels […]
Here’s the Problem About 700 U.S. cities, concentrated in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, and the Pacific Northwest, have combined sewer systems (CSSs). CSSs link sanitary sewers and stormwater conveyances to outfalls to surface water bodies. When the weather is dry or moderately wet, the CSS carries both urban street runoff and sanitary sewage […]
Why Is the EPA Looking for Your Input? The current EPA is not shy about touting its outreach efforts and the current administrator’s less-than-shy personality may make you think that the Agency is just gung-ho about finding out how you feel about environmental regulations. However, especially if you are a small business (more about that […]
So, are citizens’ tips a major component of enforcement programs? Primarily, the average citizen is not able to identify anything beyond the most blatant environmental problems. For example, the EPAinforms aspiring citizen inspectorsthat possible signs of an environmentalviolation include: Strong, offensive, or unusual chemical odors; Large numbers of dead animals, including birds or fish; Pipes […]
Recent enforcement statistics from the EPA show that during fiscal year (FY) 2014, enforcement actions required companies to invest more than $9.7 billion in actions and equipment to control pollution and clean up contaminated sites. Companies paid $63 million in combined administrative, civil, and criminal fines. And that’s just on the federal level! Follow these […]
When the EPA publishes a press release about an enforcement case, the release will likely contain a statement about how the Agency came to uncover the violations. Sometimes a routine inspection, sometimes a surprise inspection, but often you will find that the inspection was prompted by a citizen complaint. In essence, your neighbors are tattling […]